Lok Sabha to begin FDI debate at 2 p.m., UPA confident

The UPA government has said it is confident of its numbers in the Lok Sabha which begins a debate on foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Khagen Das will move the motion which reads: "This House recommends to the government to immediately withdraw its decision to allow 51 percent FDI in multi-brand retail trade."

The motion for the modification of Foreign Exchange Management Act notification, which was tabled in the Lok Sabha Nov 30, will also be taken up along with the one on FDI.

Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy and National Conference leader Hassan Khan have moved the motion for this.

The government has said it is confident of its numbers in the Lok Sabha in the voting which will take place Wednesday.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath slammed the BJP's opposition to FDI in multi-brand retail, saying such tactics were not in the interest of the country.

"I have been consistently saying that the motion passed by the BJP in both houses of parliament will be defeated. This is just politics in the name of FDI on the part of the BJP, and we urge all parties to reject it," Kamal Nath told reporters in the Parliament House complex.

"This is politics. We are managing," he said.

The BJP, meanwhile, said all parties should stick to their stand on FDI which they adopted outside parliament.

"We only hope the parties stand both inside and outside parliament. They have protested...they come on street against FDI in retail. It is not in the interest of the country," said BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu.